Strangeness and Charm
by The World's Biggest Fangirl
Summary: "A pair of red snowboots kept her legs warm, and she played with the zipper while thinking in-between pencil strokes. Finally, when Sollux thought his arms were going to fall off from frostbite, Aradia stood up once again and turned to face him. She snapped her sketchpad shut and pushed the pencil inside the rings." Christmas-ish Aradia/Sollux Oneshot for my friend Ana.


[trigger warnings (these are all pretty minor but still some people are very sensitive and I get that)  
-Swearing  
-Talk of drug use (legal, illegal or psychiatric)  
-mentions of past depression  
-this author's horrible Aradia (yes that counts as a trigger)]

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"AA, why are we hanging out in a graveyard on Christmas Eve anyways? Don't people normally spend this time with their family-" Sollux Captor cut himself off before he could say anything more. Of all the stupid things to say to Aradia Megido, he had to think of that. And with his dumbass lisp too. He mentally slapped himself across the face. Anyone who knew Aradia even a bit knew that she had problems getting close her sister and mother, both of whom were a little too rebellious for Aradia to ever connect with.

Aradia lifted her head, stirred out of her thoughts by the all-too-familiar lisping voice that belonged to her best friend Sollux. A sketchpad, containing a half-finished drawing of the gravestone in front of her, lay on her lap as she smiled softly at him. "It's fine. Death is cool. You're cool." And with that, her almond-shaped brown eyes were back on her sketchbook, her pencil moving up and down the paper.  
Sollux let out an exasperated sigh, shivering from the cold as he did so. Why he had come outside in only a t-shirt when the ground was covered in show, only the heavens know. His blonde hair hung in damp clumps, and his pale skin was even whiter than normal thanks to the biting cold. The lashes surrounding his heterochomic eyes were coated in snowflakes, and so were the lenses of his signature red and blue sunglasses. Aradia, however, had dressed for the dreary weather. Her black coat was stuffed with so many goosefeathers that it made her look bloated. A pair of red snowboots kept her legs warm, and she played with the zipper while thinking in-between pencil strokes. Finally, when Sollux thought his arms were going to fall off from frostbite, Aradia stood up once again and turned to face him. She snapped her sketchpad shut and pushed the pencil inside the rings. He tried to not stare at her yellow face, or how perfectly groomed her midnight black hair was as he asked, "AA? Is it just me, or is it fucking freezing out here?"

He despised his lisp. However, Aradia seemed to be fond of it. When they were younger, she would make him say things and then they would laugh together at how ridiculous it sounded. And when he had gone through his emo phase in middle school, she had been the one to assure him that his lisp was in fact cute and not something to be ashamed of. Aradia thought something about him was... Cute. It really took all of his mental strength to not blush at the thought.

"..Because it's winter?" Aradia plopped down in the snow, leaning against a gravestone. She motioned for Sollux to sit besides her. As soon as he had settled againt the icy stone, Aradia wordlessly slipped her coat off and handed it to him.

"AA, you don't need to-"

Aradia pressed a finger to Sollux's lips, and he could feel his face heating up. "Just put the coat on. Trust me."

Finding no further reason to object, Sollux pulled the coat on. He was about to zip up when Aradia placed her hand on his wrist. Stopping, he gave her a quizzical look. She crawled into his lap. "You can zip it up now." Sollux did so, trying to not blush. Her skin was warm against his, smelling strongly of her sister's weed. "Your skin is ice cold..." she whispered, her eyes slowing drifting closed.

"Sorry", Sollux muttered.

"It's fine", replied Aradia. Sollux decided then to be a bit bold, just to see how Aradia would react. He slipped his arms out of the sleeves and gently wrapped them around her waist. She loked up at him, with a questioning look on her face. Their eyes met as she asked, "Sollux, what are you...?"

Sollux shifted his gaze away, clearly embarassed. "Sorry, I'll move-"

"It's fine", she interrupted him before he could finish his apology. "I kind of... Like it." Their eyes met yet again, and Sollux would have kissed her right there and then if she hadn't rested her head on his shoulder before he got the chance.

"Sollux?" asked Aradia in a whisper, after a few minutes.

"Hmm?" The eyebrow above his blue eye rose in curiousity.

"N-Never mind..." She trailed off, her expression changing into one of nervousness. It worried Sollux immensely. He could sense that there was something she wanted to say, but for whatever reason, was reluctant. His heart began to pound as he pondered the possibilities. Judging by her actions of the past few minutes, he was pretty sure he knew exactly what she'd like to admit. It seemed highly unlikely at the same time, however. He was letting his wishful thinking get ahead of him again.

"No, you can tell me", he insisted. Might as well get it over with.

Aradia took a deep breath. "...You have a crush on me, don't you?"

"..Maybe", Sollux replied, looking away. She laughed, and when he turned to look at her once more, she had a smile on her face.

"I knew it. You're not very good at concealing your emotions, are you? It's written all over your face whenever you look at me." Sollux blushed and bit his lip. "Don't worry. I like you too." She smiled wider as he looked at her in shock. Stretching her neck up some, she pecked him on the cheek.

He couldn't help but smile at that. "Will you go out with me?"

"Of course."

"Movie at my place?"

"Let me guess, Indiana Jones?"

"How did you know?"

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**A/N: Written for the lovely estoniaisaleaping of tumblr! I have no idea if she has an account here or not so yeah track her down there if you want to be a creep. ****I know this is a month and 5 days too late for Christmas I'm sorry **  
**My first Homestuck fanfiction, I hope it didn't fail too much. ****How do you even write as Aradia that girl's personality changes so often **  
**This doesn't focus on Christmasy elements much oops. I listened to Florence + The Machine's Ceremonials album while I wrote this. That's where the title comes from.**


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